BATON ROUGE - Richard Turnley Jr., one of the founding members of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, died recently after battling a long illness.

Turnley and nine other African American legislators established the caucus in 1977 to bring together black legislators and champion causes of the "least among us."

Turnley was the first black state representative in modern times, serving in the House from 1972 to 1984 and then in the Senate from 1984 to 1988.

Family members scheduled a wake on Friday, Jan. 25 starting at 1 p.m. at the Hall Davis and Sons Funeral Home. Funeral services will be Saturday, Jan. 26 at the Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church. The viewing is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., when the funeral is scheduled to begin.